Bug 469256 - Icons on my desktop got rearranged after switching screens
Summary: Icons on my desktop got rearranged after switching screens
Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 466869
Alias: None
Product: plasmashell
Classification: Plasma
Component: Folder (show other bugs)
Version: 5.27.4
Platform: Manjaro Linux
: NOR major
Target Milestone: 1.0
Assignee: Plasma Bugs List
URL:
Keywords: multiscreen
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2023-05-02 11:03 UTC by php4fan
Modified: 2023-08-28 21:46 UTC (History)
5 users (show)

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Description php4fan 2023-05-02 11:03:15 UTC
STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1.  Usually I have an external monitor connected to my laptop. The laptop's built-in screen is disabled and the external monitor is configured as the main and only display.
2.  Have some icons on my Desktop carefully arranged 
3.  Occasionally, bring my laptop somewhere else, and use it with the built-in screen (and only that) instead
3.  go back home, boot up my laptop, and then plug the external monitor in (yes, in this order. I would have preferred to first plug the monitor in and then turn on the computer, and MAYBE I wouldn't have incurred into this issue, but I forgot and this shouldn't happen either way).
4. As soon as I plugged the monitor in, I would expect the system to automatically switched to my saved configuration, i.e. turn off the built-in screen, but nope. So, I went and configured it again to use the external monitor only.

OBSERVED RESULT
My icons were all rearranged, all at the top-left of the screen, one next to one another, in alphabetical order. This is NOT how I had previously arranged them. I had scattered them around the screen to my taste.

EXPECTED RESULT
The positioning of my icons on a given screen resolution should never, under any circumstances, be forgot.
I understand that if I switch to a smaller screen, and some icons are outside of the screen, they will be moved inside of the screen.
However:
1.  this should only happen for those specific icons that are outside of the new screen. The icons whose saved position  
still fits inside of the new smaller screen, shouldn't be moved at all. There's no reason to. 
2. They shouldn't be rearranged in alphabetical order and put at the top-left. They should only be moved as much as strictly necessary to get them into the new screen.
3. Ideally, as long as I don't manually move any icon after they have been moved automatically in the new screen, the old positions should be remembered and, when I go back to a screen that has the resolution of the original one or higher, the original positions should be restored.

Now, maybe just maybe, point 3 is too much to ask. But definitely not 1 and 2.

In my case, most if not all of the icons, were in positions that would stay within both monitors, so there was no reason whatsoever to ever move them. And yet ALL of them were completely rearranged.

You should not underestimate the importance of this issue. Luckily  I try to keep as few icons as possible on my desktop, so it took me a few second to rearrange the icons to my liking and it was no big deal. But some people keep a lot of stuff in their desktop and having them visually arranged can be crucial to productivity. 

To rearrange icons in a desktop is to DESTROY DATA that is the result of user's work, therefore to do it unnecessary and unpromptedly is a huge issue.


Operating System: Manjaro Linux 
KDE Plasma Version: 5.27.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.104.0
Qt Version: 5.15.8
Kernel Version: 6.1.23-1-MANJARO (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: X11
Processors: 8 × Intel® Core™ i7-1065G7 CPU @ 1.30GHz
Memory: 7.3 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: Mesa Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics
Manufacturer: LENOVO
Product Name: 81WE
System Version: IdeaPad 3 15IIL05
Comment 1 Gábor Katona 2023-05-02 18:16:24 UTC
Previously I have reported bug 464873 which was resolved and I was indeed not experiencing the problem for some time. But after a short time it started again. Now it again happens on a daily basis as I connect my laptop at home and at work to usb-c docks with external screen(s). I am on openSUSE Tumbleweed.
Comment 2 garybig 2023-05-17 17:13:16 UTC
in my situation reboot sometimes causes the desktop icons to rearrange, even if I had previously LOCKED them.
Comment 3 Nate Graham 2023-08-28 21:46:07 UTC

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 466869 ***